Improvement in fxcavators



M. M. HODGMAN. BXGAVATOR.

No. 113,888. Patented Apr. 18, 1871.

@sind @wie MARCUS M. HODGMAN, OF WEYMOUTH, MASSACHSETTS.A

Letters Patent No. 113,883, dated April 18. 1871 IMPROVEMENT EN FXAVATORS.

The Schedule referred to in than Letters Patent and making part of the une. I

I, MARCUS M. HODGMAN, of Weymouth, in the county of Norfolk, in the State of Massachusetts, have made certain Improvements in Excavators, of which the following is a specification. I The object of this invention `is to supply a cheap, durable, and effective machine, that 'is light and strong, can be operated by a less number of attendants than ordinary machines of this kind, and at the same time be 'easily moved from place to place, as may be required; and

It consists in the construction and arrangement of the devices by which the shovel may be adjusted to di'erent positions on the boom or Ishovel-stock and held in suspension on the mast while at rest, and the means by which theexcavator is moved-from place to place. 4,

In the drawing* A represents the mast, having band a around its lower end, and a pivot-pin, a', in the center of the -end of the mast, and extending somedistance below it and entering into the base or supporting-frame B, and so as that the mast can freely turn with the pivot-pin that restsin and is supported by the base,asis seen in g. l in dotted lines. l The base-support of the mast may be constructed in any practical manner or form, having the proper width and height to sustain the mast and at the same At the top of the mast is provided the common eye; bolt band' revolving plate IIC-with holes in it,l for attaching guy-ropes to secure the mast into its upright position and prevent it from leaning toward the shovel when the shovel is i'ild.

At the proper height above the base is an inclined mortise, seen at c c, iig. 1, in dotted lines, through the mast.

O is the boom or shovel-stock, made broad at the lower or shovel end, and thin in'that portion which passes through the mortise in the mast.

In the `mortise through the mast, and transverse thereto, |above the bottom and near the side of the mast furthest from the shovel, is a friction-roller, c', seen in iig. l in dotted lines, on which' the lower side of the boom or shovel-,stock always rests in whatever position it may assume, and relieves it of friction when the stock is sliding upon it.

D is` the shovel or excavator, made of sheet metal, the proper thickness and shape for scooping up earth or mnd, and is made with the usual hinged bottom and spring catch, so that it can, when desired, be emptied in the ordinary manner, which does not need to be specially described. l

On each side of the shovel are riveted ear-plates d', xtending above the top of the shovel, and at d" are pivotcd to bent arms d, that are rmly bolted to the sides of the boom or shovel-stock C, by which means the shovel is secured to the stock or boom.

Centrally on the sides, and near the bottom of the In these guide-arms e are several holes, ff, and f f are stop-pins that can be inserted in any of the holes f, when they will strike and bear against the top of the guide-staples c" and prevent the shovel from swinging too much forward or too far from its proper position while the filled shovel is being elev vated and carried out from the mast to be emptied.

0n the front side of the mast is a slitted metal r plate, g, which is slit from the upper edge down a proper distance into three parts. The two outside palts'are bolted to the face of the mast, while the middle part is bent into and covers the bottom of the inclined mortse through the mast for a considerable distance, while the bottom part of the plate gis in clined downward and from the mast.

Centrally and vertically through the plate g, that projectsfrom'the mast, is a mortise, andthrongh thisY mortise slides a bolt, h, 'in proper guide-ways or staples, at the lower' endof which is lever h', which op' crates to raise or lower the bolt h in the lnortise oi the inclined projecting plate.

Underneath and near the 'shovel end of the boom i or stock is bolted a plate, ,having its forward end bent to have an acute angle, and forming a flangeprojectiou, i', by which the shovel is prevented from inclining too much under the stock.- while that is in the different positions that it has to assume in illing and being discharged.

To the back part of plate 'i is hinged a catch-plate, j, and at its back end projects a catch, j, while j" is a metal stop-plate that is riveted fast to the under side of plate j, andextends forward far enough to strike against the under side of plate i, and thus 'prevent the back end of plate j, with catch j', from falling too low. position that the catch j' shall assume with relation to the shovel-stock.

On the top of `the forward end of the boom or shovel-stock is an eye-bolt, k, in which `is hooked a pulley-block, k', having ltwo or more pulleys, as may be desired, proportioned to the amount of force to be applied to operate to raise the shovel.

This stop-plate j can be bent to regulate the Toward and near the upper end of the mast is an eye-bolt, l, in which is hooked a pulley-block', l', with one pulley less than block k' may have,.a.nd at its lower end is another hook or eye, l.

Aboye'eye-bolt l, and freely working in av moitise through the center of the mast, is a single pulley, fm,

shovel, when the rope is passed through the mast over single pulley-dnl down on the back side of the mast and around a pulleyjin block n', when it leads oif to where the powerisapplied i'orAra-ising the shovel, which may be any power that is Yadapted Vto such use, and when applied the shovelwill be raised from the position s een in dotted lines in fig. l to that shown in full lines in the same gure,

Near tothe hack end, and on the under side of the shovel-stock` orf-boom, is au eye-bolt, p, in which ishookeda pnlley-bloclgp, having eye or hook, q, in whichis made fast the end of rope 1',- from this hook or eye the rope v' goes underneath and' around a pulleyfblock, s, that is hookedtast in eye-bolt s':in the back side of the mast; then the ifope r goes over and around the pulley in block p', and fromthere to a second pulley in block n', andfrom thence to .the power to be applied.l

This rope r ris represented by open lines-as fseen in fig- 1, and is used to force theshovel forward or from the mast' iu whatever position the boom or shovelstock may be in. f

S S are wheels'to revolve on axle S".

'.l is a lever or pole fast on the upper side of axle S', and extends back'a suflcie-nt distance to affect the management of the device,"aud forward ofthe axlea sufficient distance as that the axle S' can be used as' a fulcrum to lever T.

On the extreme forward end and on the top of lever T is a metal bar, t, bolted fast thereto, and has a hook, t', on its extreme forward end. v

' u is a. stout staple made fast in the mast at its lower end, and projects from the mast far enough to allow the hook t' of bar t to go under and between it and the mast and securely attach itself to the mast,"and so that, by bearing down on the back end of lever T, the whole excavator can be raised from the ground and its Weight rest upon the wheels S, when theentire excavator and its rigging can be transported quickly and easily to any desired location for use orstm'age.

Before putting the truck in position tori-aise .'Shovel are hung and held up from the ground by drawing on rope o until the shovel-stock is raisedv highv enough to allow the catch j to enter into' the inortise inthe mast, whenthe hand-lever h' forces the bolt h up above the plate g far enough so' that when the rope o is let slack the catch j will engage the bolt h and hold Vthe shovel and its stock securely up from Contact with the ground, and while so kept the ent-ire machine can'be movedas desired.

To disengage the catch j' from bolt h 'the bolt may be forced down and let-the shovel slide down free, or the rope o may be drawn so as to raise the shovelstock high enough to clear the' catch j from bolt h., when-the rope is quickly slackened and the shovel will gently slide down tothe position for work.

When the rope "r is. drawn back it forces the shovel forward into the earth until it is filled, when rope o the shovel has been brought to the exact position for discharging its contents, by operating the rope r and turning the mast on its pivot-piu a to swing the shovel around in either direction to the right position, rope :c is suddenly pulled, and, disengaging the spring bolt vweight of the'coutents inside, and such contents slide out and the shovel is againv empty; rope lr is suddenly slackened and rope o let free, the shovel falling to theposition for being again illed, and as it falls the 'trip-rope a: is suddenly slacke'ned and the bottom assumes its place by its specific gravit-y, and is secured iu place bythe spring bolt entering the catch, bywhich it is held until another load in the shovel is to be discharged, when the operation is repeated.

Having thus described my invention,

1. The shovel I) hung, as above described, to stock C, in combination with V,the guide-arms e having vstoplugs e', holes f, adj nstable gauge-pin f', and guidestaples c", constructed to operate in the manner shown and described.

2. The slide-bolt h, lever h', and plate g, in combi.- nation with thehinge'd arm j having catch j' and stopplate j, in the manner and for the purpose described. 3. The truck, composed ot' wheels S, axle S', lever T, plate t, and hook t', in combination with the mast having staple fu, in the manner and for the purpose described.

MARCUS M.' HODGMAN.

Witnesses:

EDM. F. BROWN, CHARLES Cams.

move the excavator the shovel-stock or boom and is drawn and the shovel raised with its load., and when ai the hinged bottom of the shovel is opened by the What I claim, and desirev to secure by Letters Pat- 

